Tales about mom (PAUSED)
by AnonymousDH
Summary: "She walked up to me; I didn't know it at the time, but that was your mother." "So you met mom at that fundraiser?" Kate asked. "No I had met her a long time before that, but it was the moment I noticed her; like really noticed her," he replied. ETA: Paused this story for now as I'm stuck and trying to figure out where it should go. Sorry.
1. Chapter 1 - A Sight of Red

**Just trying something new, HIMYM inspired. Hope you like it :)**

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2035.

He walked into the living room of his family home, followed by his two children; a sixteen year old girl and an eighteen year old son. They mostly looked like their mother, but they had his brown hair and his temper. And just like him, they would both go to Harvard. He sat himself down in his armchair and signalled his kids to do the same. The eighteen year old Nate let himself fall down in the couch that stood on the opposite side of the coffee table placing his feet on it. His younger sister Kate gently placed herself besides him. She looked up at her dad with her big brown eyes; she had the same look on her face he was used to seeing on their mothers face; like she already knew what was going on. But she either didn't know or she was one hell of an actress, "Why are we here dad?"

Her brother joined her question; "Yeah, is this important? I've basketball practice."

"Of course this is important, Nathaniel," he replied looking at the two in front of him, "I want to talk to you about your mother."

Kate's expression changed by hearing the serious tone of her father's voice and her brown eyes looked even bigger now. "Is mom alright?" the girl asked, her brother now also concerned about this family get together their father had called them for.

"No, god no!" he replied, "I just want to tell you a story. An incredible story." Now his kids just looked confused. "The story of how I met your mother."

Nate placed his feet on the ground again and leaned forward, "are we being punished for something?"

"No."

.

"It was 2015 and I had just renewed the contract with one of the firm's clients. I know, I know, it sounds boring, but it is just one of the things you have to do as name partner," he continued.

"You never told us mom was one of your clients," Kate interrupted.

"That's because she wasn't," he replied as he looked at his daughter.

"I thought you were going to tell us about how you met mom?" Nate replied, annoyed he couldn't hang out with his friends that afternoon.

"I am. Just wait, you'll see," the old lawyer replied. "So I was at this fundraiser for work with your uncle Mike and my life was good. I had everything, until he screwed up. It wasn't a case, no that would have been something I could handle; he asked your aunt Rachel to marry her and of course she said yes. So that night instead of helping me, he couldn't keep his eyes off of Rachel, which meant I better could have gone alone to the thing anyway. After doing a round along the partners and other important figures I spotted a sight of red in the corner of my eye. She walked up to me; I didn't know it at the time, but that was your mother."

"So you met mom at that fundraiser?" Kate asked.

"No I had met her a long time before that, but it was the moment I noticed her; like really noticed her," he replied.

"What was so special about her than that night, if you already knew her?"

"I know it sounds weird, your mother is beautiful of course, but it was what she was wearing that really got my eye."

Nate's face cringed; "If it was the deep V-cut of the dress or something like that, please don't say it. This is mom you're talking about."

The old man laughed at his son, "I have no doubt that she wore a gorgeous dress that night, but no. In fact when I spotted her she was already wearing her Burberry trench coat."

"A trench coat?" Kate repeated, "that was what got your eye?!" The girl had the same fashion sense as her mother and wasn't impressed by this comment; no she knew what to wear if you wanted someone to notice you and it wasn't a trench coat; unless you only wore lingerie underneath it.

The old man sighed, "if you guys would just let me finish. No it wasn't her coat, it was her scarf. Her bright red scarf."


	2. Chapter 2- Unsolicited Advice

**Thanks for the reviews! Here's the next part; enjoy :)**

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"A red scarf?" Kate asked, "what's so special about a red scarf?" She pictured the object in her mind, she knew what could make a piece of clothing special, but did her father? A scarf is basically just a rectangular piece of fabric and no way her dad would have noticed the texture or the type of fabric.

"But it wasn't just any scarf," he replied getting even a stranger look from his daughter. "It was a scarf I had once lost."

Nate started laughing, "How on earth did you know it was your scarf, don't they all look the same."

Now the old lawyer was laughing, oh boy how his son was wrong; if he had just listened to his mother or sister once he would know that when it came to cloths or accessories for that matter, nothing looked the same. "Because my initials were embroidered on it."

"Okay, but you said you had met mom a long time before that," Kate recalled, "So, what was the first time you saw her?"

"It was about a decade before the fundraiser. I was celebrating a win of a case, but I was .." the man stopped for a second, "now you might not believe this about your old man, but I was about to get myself in some big trouble and there she was. I looked to the right and spotted red…"

"Scarf!" Nate exclaimed, "she already had the scarf back then?" His sister moved to the edge of the couch, slightly shocked by her brothers sudden excitement about this story.

"Probably, I don't know," the lawyer replied, "but what I was going to say was that I spotted red pumps and in them one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. She came up to me and tried to change my mind about the thing I was about to do. I thought it was weird, this strange woman given her unsolicited advice, but then she did this analysis kind of thing she does and I was convinced; she had changed my mind."

"Can we get something to drink?" Kate interrupted her father.

"Yeah, and some snacks?" her brother joined.

The old man sighed, he was in the middle of his story. "Fine, but get me some too," he replied as his kids had already wandered off to the kitchen. He got up himself and poured him a drink before he seated himself on his couch again. He looked around his living room and spotted all the little things that she had added to his life; it were the most simplest of things, but to them they meant everything. Well almost everything, he thought when he heard his two kids laughing in the kitchen, they and their mom meant everything to him.

.

"So where was I," he thought out loud, "Oh yeah, so next I went to your aunt Jessica. I told her about what was going on and asked her for help, but she basically told me no."

"Aunt Jessica?" Kate asked, "she said no? But she's always so nice to us."

He laughed and thought about Jessica, "to you two she is. But I cannot count the times she said no to me, but I understand now that she did all that for the benefit of the firm."

"You mean your firm, Pearson Specter Litt Ross?" Nate asked, confused taken his own surname aside, neither of the names he was able to connect to his aunt Jessica.

"Yes, it was just Pearson Hardman at the time," he started, "but Pearson is or was her surname, besides 'Malone Specter Litt Ross' just doesn't sound the same." He chuckled at the sound of that.

.

He continued with telling his children about the problem he was facing and how Jessica wasn't able to help him. "So that woman that helped me that day," he continued, "she was, well is incredible. You never had to ask or tell her to do something, she just did. And she knew everything, I don't know how, but she did. Or she thought she did anyway, but that's a story for another time. She wasn't just like any secretary, she was a girl Friday, a friend and I was lucky to have her."

"So, if mom wasn't a client, she worked for you?" Nate asked his dad.

"No," he answered his son, "because that woman I just told you about, isn't your mother. That is your aunt Donna. She was still working for me at the time of that fundraiser I told you about. God did I miss her when she left me."


	3. Chapter 3 - The Mock Trial

**For those of you in shock about 'aunt Donna', just continue reading :) Thanks again for the reviews! Made me write the next part directly; two chapters this time. Let me know what you think.**

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"Wait," Kate said confused, "I asked you about the first time you saw mom, but you just told us about aunt Donna."

"That's right, but that's because your mom was there the time I met your aunt. I didn't know it at the time, but Donna told me when she properly introduced us years later," he replied.

"So aunt Donna helped you with mom?" the girl asked.

The lawyer nodded, "if it wasn't for her, you two wouldn't be here. But your aunt Donna has helped me a lot of times," he said with a smile on his face, "I did however got to help her a couple of times."

.

He moved to the edge of his seat and reached for one of the chocolate chip cookies that lay on the table. He looked at the cookie and thought about Donna; "Did you guys know these are your aunts favourite cookies, if they have butterscotch and pistachios." It remained silent for a while when the lawyer ate his cookie. "Anyway, there was this one time Donna had screwed up; better known as the missing file debacle."

"You mean the one time aunt Donna got fired?" Kate asked, "she might have mentioned that once."

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. Now, don't get me wrong, we all love aunt Donna and no matter what she has said about it, she did screw up and her getting fired was the only thing aunt Jessica could do about it."

He told his kids about what had happened afterwards; the mock trial.

 _._

" _The plaintiff would like to call Ms. Donna Paulsen to the stand," Louis said as he looked back and forth between Daniel Hardman and Rachel Zane. Rachel was about to get up and play her role as Donna in the mock trial when Donna entered the room drawing the attention of all the lawyers in the room. Louis leaned down on the table, "You got her to come in?" he whispered to Mike._

" _Just stick to the script," the associate answered, "Harvey won't know what hit him."_

 _Louis walked towards the stand Donna was sitting, Ms. Paulsen," he looked at the script in his hands, "did Harvey Specter order you to shred that document?"_

" _I decline to answer pursuant to my fifth amendment rights," Donna answered._

" _Did you put your date stamp on that document?" Louis tried again._

" _I decline to answer," Donna repeated._

 _Louis was about to ask the next question, but crumbled the script instead; "I'm not gonna ask questions you're just gonna plead the fifth to," he said as he was back at his table taking a sip from his glass of water, "So had Harvey Specter asked you to bury something five years ago, would you?"_

" _He wouldn't ask me to do that," she answered._

" _That's not what I asked," Louis continued pointing his finger at Donna, "If he did, would you do it?" he asked, but there was no direct answer from Donna this time. "Oh, see, you're pausing, which means you're hiding something."_

" _No, I'm not."_

" _See, I think you'd do anything for him, and I know why," Louis continued as he raised his left index finger._

" _Is there a question?" Jessica interrupted him while Louis walked over to the table where Harvey and Jessica were sitting._

" _Do you love Harvey Specter?" Louis asked._

" _What?"_

" _Do you love him?" Louis repeated bitterly._

" _That has nothing to do with –"_

" _It has everything to do with," Louis continued, "Why did your last boyfriend break up with you? Ms. Paulsen, why did he end it with you?"_

" _He thought that I prioritized my work over our relationship," Donna answered._

" _Your work? He asked you to choose between him and Harvey, didn't he?"_

" _Yes"_

" _Who did you choose?" Louis demanded._

 _Donna sighed and looked to Hardman before facing Louis again, "Harvey."_

" _Because you love him?"_

" _Louis, stop," Harvey ordered._

" _It's not that simple," Donna answered._

" _Do you love him, yes or no? Answer the question," Louis ordered again._

" _Louis," Harvey interrupted._

" _You're with him all the time. Your work revolves around him. Your life revolves around him," Louis said._

" _Objection, badgering," Jessica objected._

" _You don't have a boyfriend, but the one you did wouldn't share you with him," Louis continued._

" _Your Honour!" Jessica objected again._

" _Please, I just need a –" Donna tried, but Louis didn't stop._

" _Do you love Harvey Specter? Do you love Harvey Specter?" Louis exclaimed in her face._

.

Kate was now sitting on the edge of her chair; she had never heard the full story about what had happened with her aunt that time. "And, what did aunt Donna say? Did she?" she asked her father.


	4. Chapter 4 - The Other Name Partner

He thought back to that moment in the library, about Donna. "She didn't say anything, she just left."

"She left?" his daughter asked, "What happened?"

Her question reminded the lawyer of the time Donna had left him, but there was more to tell before he could continue with that subject. "A lot happened after that, but there's someone I need to tell you about first before continuing about your aunt Donna."

His kids looked up at each other, he could hear them guessing about whom the next story would be, but not wanting to spoil the surprise he remained as cryptic as he could be. "So now that I've told you about the firm, I think it's time I tell you more about the other name on the wall," he continued as his mind wandered off to the first time he had seen those metal letters of the third name on the wooden wall. It had made him feel sick.

"You mean …," but Nate stopped talking when his father raised his hand.

"Now, let me talk for a minute. So yeah, the other name on the wall besides mine, aunt Jessica's and uncle Mike's. He and I go way back. We worked in the bullpen together, back in the day when the firm was still called 'Gordon Schmidt Van Dyke'. We were colleagues, friends even; you could describe the two of us as Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog, but over time he focussed more and more on business and his arrogance grew along with it."

"Ralph who?" his kids asked in sync.

The old lawyer shook his head, he had forgotten his kids were too young to have watched (like he had done with his sibling) or even just known about Looney Tunes; and if they did they'd probably only knew about Bugs Bunny. "Never mind, so when the two of us were senior associates at the firm, now Pearson Hardman, a senior partner position became available. Now of course, that wouldn't have been an option for either of us, so we decided to go to Hardman and get us both promoted to junior partner, but then he cut me out of the deal."

"What!?"Nate exclaimed, stepping up for his father; he knew his father wasn't the easiest man to get along with, but this didn't sound like something you would do to or expect from a friend.

"No, that's okay," he continued, "I know it sounds bad, but believe me I did some shady shit to him as well. That's just how our friendship works; we got into each other's hair, we fought a lot, but in the end of the day there's your uncle Mike and aunt Jessica and one other woman aside, no other lawyer I respect more than him," he said with a sincere voice.

.

"Can we take a break, just real quick?" Nate asked when his phone went off.

"Sure, we'll continue this over dinner," he answered before he looked at his daughter.

"I don't feel like cooking tonight," he confessed.

"Me neither," the girl replied and a smile appeared on her lips as she realised what her father was aiming at.

"You know, with your mother out of town, we could order in."

"Pizza!" Nate yelled from the hallway.

"Nah, I want something else. Kate, do you know a place that delivers?"

Kate thought about it, "When I went shopping with aunt Donna the other day, we got food from this Thai place. It was great, I can call them."

.

He looked at the Thai food in front of him, he could barely remember the last time he had ordered in with Donna at the firm. He also took a mental note that he should let his daughter hang out with Rachel more often; she was after all the foodie of the family. As the three of them enjoyed their meal, he continued telling his kids about the McKernan Motors case and how they had found out that uncle Mike didn't know how to drive. He also elaborated on some other cases the two of them used to work together on; from the embezzlement of Hardman to Forstman and Cahill.

"I still think he's an asshole for going over your head back then," Nate concluded after a big sip of his coke. He took in the words of his son and he thought about it; the man could be douche if he wanted to, but he also knew he hadn't told the complete story about the junior partnership deal to his children.

"Nathaniel," Louis ordered his son, "now I may think that, but that's your uncle Harvey your talking about."


	5. Chapter 5 - Recap Louis thoughts

_**A/N. First of all thanks for the reviews! So I thought it might be a good idea to do a little recap of the chapters until now; a lot of you were thinking it was Harvey telling the story. So for this chapter I copied the four chapters and placed them after each other and I added Louis thoughts during the conversation with his kids in bold. Just to explain how the references that all seemed to be Donna/Harvey directed could also apply to him or his vision on the things that have happened at the firm. But you can also skip this chapter and move right on to chapter 6 ;)**_

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2035.

He walked into the living room of his family home, followed by his two children; a sixteen year old girl and an eighteen year old son. They mostly looked like their mother, but they had his brown hair and his temper. And just like him, they would both go to Harvard. He sat himself down in his armchair and signalled his kids to do the same. The eighteen year old Nate let himself fall down in the couch that stood on the opposite side of the coffee table placing his feet on it. His younger sister Kate gently placed herself besides him. She looked up at her dad with her big brown eyes; she had the same look on her face he was used to seeing on their mothers face; like she already knew what was going on. But she either didn't know or she was one hell of an actress **,** _ **just like her aunt and himself a true Shakespearean**_ , "Why are we here dad?"

Her brother joined her question; "Yeah, is this important? I've basketball practice." **Louis sighed at the mentioning of basketball; he loved his son, but he had secretly hoped he would have chosen tennis over the favourite sport of his uncle.**

"Of course this is important, Nathaniel," he replied looking at the two in front of him, "I want to talk to you about your mother."

Kate's expression changed by hearing the serious tone of her father's voice and her brown eyes looked even bigger now. "Is mom alright?" the girl asked, her brother now also concerned about this family get together their father had called them for.

"No, god no!" he replied, "I just want to tell you a story. An incredible story." Now his kids just looked confused. "The story of how I met your mother."

Nate placed his feet on the ground again and leaned forward, "are we being punished for something?"

"No."

.

"It was 2015 and I had just renewed the contract with one of the firm's clients. I know, I know, it sounds boring, but it is just one of the things you have to do as name partner," he continued.

"You never told us mom was one of your clients," Kate interrupted.

"That's because she wasn't," he replied as he looked at his daughter.

"I thought you were going to tell us about how you met mom?" Nate replied, annoyed he couldn't hang out with his friends that afternoon.

"I am. Just wait, you'll see," the old lawyer replied. "So I was at this fundraiser for work with your uncle Mike and my life was good. I had everything, until he screwed up. It wasn't a case, no that would have been something I could handle; he asked your aunt Rachel to marry her and of course she said yes. So that night instead of helping me, he couldn't keep his eyes off of Rachel, which meant I better could have gone alone to the thing anyway. After doing a round along the partners and other important figures I spotted a sight of red in the corner of my eye. She walked up to me; I didn't know it at the time, but that was your mother."

"So you met mom at that fundraiser?" Kate asked.

"No I had met her a long time before that, but it was the moment I noticed her; like really noticed her," he replied.

"What was so special about her than that night, if you already knew her?"

"I know it sounds weird, your mother is beautiful of course, but it was what she was wearing that really got my eye."

Nate's face cringed; "If it was the deep V-cut of the dress or something like that, please don't say it. This is mom you're talking about."

The old man laughed at his son, "I have no doubt that she wore a gorgeous dress that night, but no. In fact when I spotted her she was already wearing her Burberry trench coat."

"A trench coat?" Kate repeated, "that was what got your eye?!" The girl had the same fashion sense as her mother and wasn't impressed by this comment; no she knew what to wear if you wanted someone to notice you and it wasn't a trench coat; unless you only wore lingerie underneath it.

The old man sighed, "if you guys would just let me finish. No it wasn't her coat, it was her scarf. Her bright red scarf."

"A red scarf?" Kate asked, "what's so special about a red scarf?" She pictured the object in her mind, she knew what could make a piece of clothing special, but did her father? A scarf is basically just a rectangular piece of fabric and no way her dad would have noticed the texture or the type of fabric.

"But it wasn't just any scarf," he replied getting even a stranger look from his daughter. "It was a scarf I had once lost."

Nate started laughing, "How on earth did you know it was your scarf, don't they all look the same."

Now the old lawyer was laughing, oh boy how his son was wrong; if he had just listened to his mother or sister once he would know that when it came to cloths or accessories for that matter, nothing looked the same. "Because my initials were embroidered on it," **he replied as he remembered the yellow L.M.L. in a cursive font.**

"Okay, but you said you had met mom a long time before that," Kate recalled, "So, what was the first time you saw her?"

"It was about a decade before the fundraiser. I was celebrating a win of a case, but I was .." the man stopped for a second **as he thought about it, it had been exactly 412 days since Harvey had left to work at the D.A.'s office and Louis had just won his first solo case. Wanting to celebrate he went to the local spa, only to find out his beloved mud section was closed and would be sold off** , "now you might not believe this about your old man, but I was about to get myself in some big trouble and there she was. I looked to the right and spotted red…"

"Scarf!" Nate exclaimed, "she already had the scarf back then?" His sister moved to the edge of the couch, slightly shocked by her brothers sudden excitement about this story.

"Probably, I don't know," the lawyer replied **as he recalled how he had marched up to the manager, threatening with a suit when this young redhead in incredibly high red pumps walked up to him and calmed him down. She explained it was a financial issue, that the spa was nearly broke and suing would only put the company in the ground** , "but what I was going to say was that I spotted red pumps and in them one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. She came up to me and tried to change my mind about the thing I was about to do. I thought it was weird, this strange woman given her unsolicited advice, but then she did this analysis kind of thing she does and I was convinced; she had changed my mind."

"Can we get something to drink?" Kate interrupted her father.

"Yeah, and some snacks?" her brother joined.

The old man sighed, he was in the middle of his story. "Fine, but get me some too," he replied as his kids had already wandered off to the kitchen. He got up himself and poured him a drink, **a prunie,** before he seated himself on his couch again. He looked around his living room and spotted all the little things that she had added to his life; it were the most simplest of things, but to them they meant everything. Well almost everything, he thought when he heard his two kids laughing in the kitchen, they and their mom meant everything to him.

.

"So where was I," he thought out loud. "Oh yeah, so next I went to your aunt Jessica. I told her about what was going on and asked her for help, but she basically told me no," **he told his kids as he thought about how he had wanted to make a donation to the spa in order to keep his mud room alive, how he had asked Jessica for a raise, a bonus, a loan even; but he had no idea about the power struggle going on at the firm at that time.**

"Aunt Jessica?" Kate asked, "she said no? But she's always so nice to us."

He laughed and thought about Jessica, "to you two she is. But I cannot count the times she said no to me, but I understand now that she did all that for the benefit of the firm."

"You mean your firm, Pearson Specter Litt Ross?" Nate asked, confused taken his own surname aside, neither of the names he was able to connect to his aunt Jessica.

"Yes, it was just Pearson Hardman at the time," he started, "but Pearson is or was her surname, besides 'Malone Specter Litt Ross' just doesn't sound the same." He chuckled at the sound of that.

.

He continued with telling his children about the problem he was facing and how Jessica wasn't able to help him. "So that woman that helped me that day," he continued, "she was, well is incredible. You never had to ask or tell her to do something, she just did. And she knew everything, I don't know how, but she did. Or she thought she did anyway, but that's a story for another time. She wasn't just like any secretary, she was a girl Friday, a friend and I was lucky to have her."

"So, if mom wasn't a client, she worked for you?" Nate asked his dad.

"No," he answered his son, "because that woman I just told you about, isn't your mother. That is your aunt Donna. She was still working for me at the time of that fundraiser I told you about. God did I miss her when she left me." **Losing Norma had been an emotional rollercoaster and Donna leaving him had triggered the exact same feelings.**

"Wait," Kate said confused, "I asked you about the first time you saw mom, but you just told us about aunt Donna."

"That's right, but that's because your mom was there the time I met your aunt. I didn't know it at the time, but Donna told me when she properly introduced us years later," he replied.

"So aunt Donna helped you with mom?" the girl asked.

The lawyer nodded, "if it wasn't for her, you two wouldn't be here. But your aunt Donna has helped me a lot of times," he said with a smile on his face, "I did however got to help her a couple of times."

.

He moved to the edge of his seat and reached for one of the chocolate chip cookies that lay on the table. He looked at the cookie and thought about Donna **and how Katrina had told him this about her** ; "Did you guys know these are your aunts favourite cookies, if they have butterscotch and pistachios." It remained silent for a while when the lawyer ate his cookie. "Anyway, there was this one time Donna had screwed up; better known as the missing file debacle."

"You mean the one time aunt Donna got fired?" Kate asked, "she might have mentioned that once."

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. Now, don't get me wrong, we all love aunt Donna and no matter what she has said about it, she did screw up and her getting fired was the only thing aunt Jessica could do about it."

He told his kids about what had happened afterwards; the mock trial.

 _._

" _The plaintiff would like to call Ms. Donna Paulsen to the stand," Louis said as he looked back and forth between Daniel Hardman and Rachel Zane. Rachel was about to get up and play her role as Donna in the mock trial when Donna entered the room drawing the attention of all the lawyers in the room. Louis leaned down on the table, "You got her to come in?" he whispered to Mike._

" _Just stick to the script," the associate answered, "Harvey won't know what hit him."_

 _Louis walked towards the stand Donna was sitting, Ms. Paulsen," he looked at the script in his hands, "did Harvey Specter order you to shred that document?"_

" _I decline to answer pursuant to my fifth amendment rights," Donna answered._

" _Did you put your date stamp on that document?" Louis tried again._

" _I decline to answer," Donna repeated._

 _Louis was about to ask the next question, but crumbled the script instead; "I'm not gonna ask questions you're just gonna plead the fifth to," he said as he was back at his table taking a sip from his glass of water, "So had Harvey Specter asked you to bury something five years ago, would you?"_

" _He wouldn't ask me to do that," she answered._

" _That's not what I asked," Louis continued pointing his finger at Donna, "If he did, would you do it?" he asked, but there was no direct answer from Donna this time. "Oh, see, you're pausing, which means you're hiding something."_

" _No, I'm not."_

" _See, I think you'd do anything for him, and I know why," Louis continued as he raised his left index finger._

" _Is there a question?" Jessica interrupted him while Louis walked over to the table where Harvey and Jessica were sitting._

" _Do you love Harvey Specter?" Louis asked._

" _What?"_

" _Do you love him?" Louis repeated bitterly._

" _That has nothing to do with –"_

" _It has everything to do with," Louis continued, "Why did your last boyfriend break up with you? Ms. Paulsen, why did he end it with you?"_

" _He thought that I prioritized my work over our relationship," Donna answered._

" _Your work? He asked you to choose between him and Harvey, didn't he?"_

" _Yes"_

" _Who did you choose?" Louis demanded._

 _Donna sighed and looked to Hardman before facing Louis again, "Harvey."_

" _Because you love him?"_

" _Louis, stop," Harvey ordered._

" _It's not that simple," Donna answered._

" _Do you love him, yes or no? Answer the question," Louis ordered again._

" _Louis," Harvey interrupted._

" _You're with him all the time. Your work revolves around him. Your life revolves around him," Louis said._

" _Objection, badgering," Jessica objected._

" _You don't have a boyfriend, but the one you did wouldn't share you with him," Louis continued._

" _Your Honour!" Jessica objected again._

" _Please, I just need a –" Donna tried, but Louis didn't stop._

" _Do you love Harvey Specter? Do you love Harvey Specter?" Louis exclaimed in her face._

.

Kate was now sitting on the edge of her chair; she had never heard the full story about what had happened with her aunt that time. "And, what did aunt Donna say? Did she?" she asked her father.

He thought back to that moment in the library, about Donna, **although he had been the one asking the questions and had been badgering Donna about Harvey, at the time he had no clue; he always assumed, but didn't know for sure;** "She didn't say anything, she just left."

"She left?" his daughter asked, "What happened?"

Her question reminded the lawyer of the time Donna had left him, but there was more to tell before he could continue with that subject. "A lot happened after that, but there's someone I need to tell you about first before continuing about your aunt Donna," **he replied as he thought about Harvey.**

His kids looked up at each other, he could hear them guessing about whom the next story would be, but not wanting to spoil the surprise he remained as cryptic as he could be. "So now that I've told you about the firm, I think it's time I tell you more about the other name on the wall," he continued as his mind wandered off to the first time he had seen those metal letters of the third name on the wooden wall. It had made him feel sick. **He had been in the elevator with Donna, and the moment they stepped out of it Donna had looked to the wall. She had moved her hand to the right making Louis stop in his tracks; he followed her gaze. That's when he saw it: Pearson Darby Specter; he had needed a day.**

"You mean …," but Nate stopped talking when his father raised his hand.

"Now, let me talk for a minute. So yeah, the other name on the wall besides mine, aunt Jessica's and uncle Mike's. He and I go way back. We worked in the bullpen together, back in the day when the firm was still called 'Gordon Schmidt Van Dyke'. We were colleagues, friends even; you could describe the two of us as Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog, but over time he focussed more and more on business and his arrogance grew along with it," **he spoke as he recalled making the same reference the Mike one day, about how they both came to work each day as friends, but when they punched in the time clock, Ralph would try to steel the sheep and Sam would stop him; it was brutal until they punched out again and wend back to being friends. He had explained to Mike that Harvey didn't punch out anymore.**

"Ralph who?" his kids asked in sync.

The old lawyer shook his head, he had forgotten his kids were too young to have watched (like he had done with his sibling) or even just known about Looney Tunes; and if they did they'd probably only knew about Bugs Bunny. "Never mind, so when the two of us were senior associates at the firm, now Pearson Hardman, a senior partner position became available. Now of course, that wouldn't have been an option for either of us, so we decided to go to Hardman and get us both promoted to junior partner, but then he cut me out of the deal."

"What!?"Nate exclaimed, stepping up for his father; he knew his father wasn't the easiest man to get along with, but this didn't sound like something you would do to or expect from a friend.

"No, that's okay," he continued, "I know it sounds bad, but believe me I did some shady shit to him as well. That's just how our friendship works; we got into each other's hair, we fought a lot, but in the end of the day there's your uncle Mike and aunt Jessica and one other woman aside, no other lawyer I respect more than him," he said with a sincere voice.

.

"Can we take a break, just real quick?" Nate asked when his phone went off.

"Sure, we'll continue this over dinner," he answered before he looked at his daughter.

"I don't feel like cooking tonight," he confessed.

"Me neither," the girl replied and a smile appeared on her lips as she realised what her father was aiming at.

"You know, with your mother out of town, we could order in."

"Pizza!" Nate yelled from the hallway.

 **Louis thought about ordering pizza, but the last good one he had was at Harvard; and well square pizza's just weren't available in Manhattan.** "Nah, I want something else. Kate, do you know a place that delivers?"

Kate thought about it, "When I went shopping with aunt Donna the other day, we got food from this Thai place. It was great, I can call them."

.

He looked at the Thai food in front of him, he could barely remember the last time he had ordered in with Donna at the firm. **Probably during their last big case together, when she had stayed late to help him, just like she had done numerous of times with Harvey.** He also took a mental note that he should let his daughter hang out with Rachel more often; she was after all the foodie of the family. As the three of them enjoyed their meal, he continued telling his kids about the McKernan Motors case and how they had found out that uncle Mike didn't know how to drive. **How he had thought their uncle.** He also elaborated on some other cases the two of them used to work together on; from the embezzlement of Hardman to Forstman and Cahill.

"I still think he's an asshole for going over your head back then," Nate concluded after a big sip of his coke. He took in the words of his son and he thought about it; the man could be douche if he wanted to, but he also knew he hadn't told the complete story about the junior partnership deal to his children. **Although Harvey had broken his promise first when Hardman had said there was only one position available, it had been him who went over Harvey's head in the end.**

"Nathaniel," Louis ordered his son, "now I may think that, but that's your uncle Harvey your talking about."


	6. Chapter 6 - Uncle Harvey

Nate cringed a little on the couch, he didn't like being called Nathaniel and it was not like his sister was ever called by her full name.

"But you're right," Louis continued, "he kind of was back in the day," Louis concluded, making his kid laugh. "But don't tell your aunt and uncle that I said that."

"What else did he do?"

Louis took another bite of his chicken. "There was this time he peed in the corner of my office and told me Bruno, my old cat, had done it … and well this wasn't really your uncle, but he had made sure your aunt Donna would have a waiter spill drinks over me at an restaurant."

Nate was trying to hold his laugh, Kate asked about her aunt doing that.

"Ooh yeah, you see, so I told you that your uncle Harvey and I used to work together in the bullpen, well we did, but then he moved to the D.A.'s office and he wasn't supposed to be back for another two years, three months and five days when all of a sudden he was there again at the office. And he wasn't alone, no he had brought your aunt Donna with him. At first I asked why he had brought his girlfriend to the firm, but she told me she was his girl Friday."

"Girl Friday?" the kids asked.

"That means she was his secretary or assistant, and it was only minutes after that that I realised this had to be the same woman that I had met in the spa only four months prior. The funny thing was … okay, it wasn't funny at all, but your uncle Harvey and I were just associates back then and associates are not entitled to have secretaries. Yet your uncle Harvey did."

"How's that possible, and wait you first said aunt Donna worked for you and now your saying she was working for uncle Harvey?" Kate asked.

"How come your uncle Harvey was allowed to have a secretary? Well I found out about that a moth before that fundraiser, where I spotted your mom again, when your aunt Donna moved to my desk and I was informed about her pay check. As it turned out he had been paying her salary out of his own pocket for the first five years she worked at the Pearson Hardman and every time he got a raise after that he paid her a bonus," Louis explained, "as for the other matter, your aunt Donna did indeed work for your uncle Harvey first and then transferred to my desk after my old secretary, Norma, died. Now there's a whole story behind why she did that, but I'll save that for another time. You'll need to understand what your uncle was like back in the day." Louis took a sip of his prunie before he continued, "Your uncle Harvey seemed to have a lot more privileges then I back then; when I was finally allowed to hire my own personal associate, Mariah Monroe, aunt Jessica told me the firm had a hiring freeze. But a day later I learned that your uncle had hired a fifth year associate. I didn't like her at first, but she turned out to be a very smart and kind woman. A true friend."

"Who was that?" Kate asked.

"Really, Katrina," Louis countered, "your named after her."

"Aunt Katrina?" the girl repeated, "really? She worked for uncle Harvey too?"

Louis nodded, "well he may have hired her, but she mostly worked with me after she accepted my tutor ledge."

"So what was he like? You said we needed to know more about him."

"He was someone I secretly admired, someone I wanted to be. Now not completely, because besides being an respected lawyer, the best closer of the city as he liked to call himself, he was also a ladies man. Used to have a different girl every week, if not every day. He found it difficult to trust people, had commitment issues and bottled all his emotions inside him. There were only a couple of woman he had really dated, " Louis continued as he recalled them, "Zoe Lawford, Dana Scott and of course your aunt."

Kate thought about her uncle and his three children: Gorden, Robert and Regina, how he acted around them and around her brother and herself. The story of her father didn't sound like the uncle Harvey she knew at all, "Wow, he sure has changed."

Louis smiled, "Yes, yes he has."


	7. Chapter 7 - Associates from Harvard

**Sorry it has taken so long to update. It's harder to write this than I anticipated it would be as it's Louis telling everything. And yes this story will contain Darvey chapters, but it's Louis telling the story and we all know that he doesn't tell things in the most logical way/order. So he'll be telling their story along with his own, just in small steps. Enjoy Thanks everyone for the reviews; love reading them. :)**

* * *

"Who was this Maria Monroe?" Kate asked as she recalled the name her father had mentioned earlier.

Louis sighed, "she was one of the best Harvard graduates and I had picked her as my associate, but as I said I couldn't hire her." _Damn Harvey and Jessica._

Nate took another bite of his food, "So how does this associate ship work? Can everyone just come in for an interview –"

"Ooh, oh. No," Louis shot back. "There's a whole procedure for that. It starts with a very special woman from Harvard. Let me tell you more about that." He adjusted himself in his chair as he started telling. "The first time your aunt Donna introduced me to her," Louis started," was back in the day when your uncle Mike was still working in the bull pen with that clown of a Harold Gunderson. The firm had just been reviewed on life expectancy and well-being of associates and we were ranked number three of the best law firms for places to work."

"That's good right," Kate asked as she thought about the amount of law firms this city contained.

"Your aunt Jessica thought it wasn't. No she always wanted to be number one. I however thought it was too high," Louis answered.

"I don't understand," Nate interrupted, "how come you thought differently on a ranking of the firm?"

Louis sighed. "Because associates are not allowed to be happy, they should fear their lives and get on their knees to thank god and myself that we allow them to exist in our kingdoms," he explained, leaving his children confused and speechless.

"But, as I was telling. This woman came to investigate and she was amazing. It was like I was looking in the mirror. Such passion for her work. And then there was a very black day in the life of Louis Marlow Litt."

"What happened?" his kids asked concerned.

"I was in court preforming my closing act as I experienced a very heavy pressure on my chest. It was as if I couldn't breathe anymore, couldn't see and couldn't think. I rushed to my seat and that's when the judge called 911 - "

"OMG, dad. You had a heart attack?" Kate exclaimed.

"Yes, I did. But don't worry, it was a one-time thing. You know how I treat my body like a temple. So anyway, the next thing I knew I woke up in the hospital with your aunt Donna by my side. At first I thought I had died and woken up in heaven, but that thank god did not happen. Donna told me about what was going on in the firm; how everyone was dealing with it. How your aunt Jessica had wanted to send me flowers and how your uncle Harvey had stopped her. He knew I was allergic, not that he seemed to care about that back in the day when he had a flower company deliver flowers to my desk every day. Anyhow; that day I had a revelation; I finally knew what I wanted and needed in my life. And that was also the moment she stepped in the room. At first she got mad at me for working on a letter, when in fact I was writing something for her. She cried as she read what I had written and I knew that the moment was there. That I couldn't wait anymore. So I got down on my knee and I proposed –"

"You asked mom to marry you in a hospital?" Kate interrupted. _That's so not romantic; that may never happen to me._

"No. God, no," Louis replied," you see this wasn't your mother. This was Sheila Sasz."

"So you were married before mom?" Nate asked.

Louis let out a breath, "If you two will let me finish my story for once, you wouldn't have to ask all these questions," he replied. "No, I haven't been married before your mom. I was however engaged to Sheila Sazs for a couple of months; your uncle Harvey would have been my best man. But after a while we realised our lives just weren't compatible; she wanted to stay in Cambridge, while my entire life is here in New York. But the thing that really separated us was the fact that she did not want to have children and I … well I just couldn't give that up," he answered as he looked at his children. _No he could have never given up on wanting to be a father._ And he was glad he had ended things with Sheila, otherwise those two in front of him would have never existed.


End file.
